Bandmates turned married couple return with a new sound and a new album

When David Wax and Suz Slezak got their big break at the Newport Folk Festival, they were just friends. Having met in Boston while Wax was at Harvard, the pair blended his love for MexoAmericana sounds and her passion for classic folk styles into an indie Americana that took the folk scene by storm. Performing under the moniker David Wax Museum, they won their way onto a Newport side stage in 2010, and dominated the main stage just one year later. Flash forward five years and two albums later, and Wax and Slezak are married with a new child.

As their relationship has progressed, so too have their style. On their forthcoming release Guesthouse, the David Wax Museum take their Mexican-inspired folk in completely new directions. Case in point: new song “Young Man”.

“I wrote the song reflecting on a conversation I had with Scott Avett [of The Avett Brothers] about ambition, and the pitfalls of letting your ambition set the agenda in your life,” Wax says of the track. “Something I’ve discovered about this career is that I am often striving so hard to attain some career goal or bucket list item, however, by the time I finally get there, it’s not a big deal anymore. I’ve lost track of savoring the process and the struggle along the way, which is where the real meaning can come from.”

While Wax’s growth is discernible in the lyrics, the band’s progress is clear in every note. Horns and that twang of chugging guitars are as familiar as ever, but are now bound to the vibrations of electronically produced rhythms and synths. Even Wax’s voice is manipulated in ways they never were on past albums, echoing off themselves like a pebble dropped in a metal well. But for all the new tools, the band’s heart never feels lost, and all the electronics do nothing to strip the track of the personal message within. Check it out below.

Due October 16th, pre-orders for Guesthouse are going on now. The band will support the release with a tour kicking off this Saturday at Mercy Lounge in Nashville, Tennesse. Find their full schedule below.